Macau Day 2

On the second day... we found out we couldn't get a table at Wynn Hotel's Chinese restaurant (who would on a Sunday, by making reservations just the day before on a CNY holiday period??)....or anywhere that was remotely popular for that matter...so we settled for the Chinese restaurant at a hotel called 'Lan Kwai Fong' - odd I know, because we're more familiar with it as the district.... 

Café Matchbox - new-style bing sutt.

Date: 5th September 2010 

Café Matchbox @ Causeway Bay

Attracted originally by the décor and the type of food they serve here in Matchbox, I brought a friend here to try out the food. Honestly we were quite pleased with this new-style bing-sutt, even though its slightly out of reach. Upon stepping inside we were in love already! After being seated to a mini booth we studied the menu, and decided on the following...

main menu 

another menu + dessert menu 

B Jai Yin-Yang Drink (Horlicks + Ovaltine) 

Chicken Pie in Pea Soup 

Pancakes with banana and caramel 

We picked two items to share, one being their signature meal set of chicken pie in pea soup with pancakes ($38) which comes with a drink - we ordered 'B Jai Yin Yang' for an extra $5. The other item was a very normal beef and tomato rice (, just to be safe!

The chicken pie in pea soup was a little strange for us, but not bad at all. We agreed we would've preferred eating them separately, and I shall bare that in mind for next time! Here at Matchbox the chicken pie is a Hong Kong-style pie, being made with a sweet shortcrust pastry crust and only a little filling of chicken breast in white sauce with mixed vegetables. The crust was in no way soggy despite being served in the soup, and was quite rich, but good. The pea soup proved to be better than I thought. Green peas are probably one of my most hated vegetables, and this soup in no way resembled the boring old pea. It was flavoured with lots of ginger and puréed, so it was a hearty and healthy contrast to the pie. 

Pancakes came with a light caramel flavoured sauce and chopped bananas. The pancakes were warm when served, and nicely browned on both sides and soft on the inside. The caramel sauce is not your typical caramel sauce, this one being lightened by the addition of (corn) starch, which also makes it less-sweet! Although some might think they aren't being genuine, serving 'fake' caramel and all, it is actually the preferred taste of many Chinese people who don't like their sweets too sweet any way! Of course it would've been better if served later, but then again we should have told them to - this is a cha chaan teng after all. 

Beef and tomato rice

Beef and tomato on rice ($42) was good as well. Whilst the rice could've been better, the beef was soft but not too much so as a result of tenderizing ingredients (yes, baking soda), and the tomatoes were chopped small enough before being fried so they cooked thoroughly and softened easily, rather than being semi-raw big chunks which I got from Tsui Wah recently. Also in here were button mushrooms, and the main character - the tomato sauce, was not overly acidic and not too sweet either, a wonderful balance! 

 Really neat utensils drawer on the side of each table!

We were very happy with this visit, and I'd definitely come again! 

Food: ♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$

Cafe Matchbox

G/F, Highland Mansion, 8 Cleveland Street, 

Causeway Bay

Tel: +852 2868 0363

Yung Kee, LKF

Date of visit: 7th July 2010 

Yung Kee @ Lan Kwai Fong

My friend P's sister loves Char Siu, and so do I, but not to her extent =P Everyone's preference of Char siu is different. I like them lean and soft but still slightly chewy, whereas others may like them half fat/half lean etc etc. I suggested we try out Yung Kee for our lunch meet-up. 

A plate of roast goose and char siu with rice ($52) was quite reasonably priced. I tried the BBQ Pork only and it was pretty good. Not too sweet or salty, and did not have the scary red colouring some places tend to have. It was caramelized well, making it smell appetizing. The pork itself was pretty lean, yet was not chewy - yum!

Shrimp Wontons with Thin Noodles ($31)

I only tried the soup, which was quite good and mild in flavour - no presence of any alkaline (gan sui)! I didn't try the wontons, but P did comment that it was not all shrimp. Had a bit of pork as a filler. She prefers Mak's Noodle (麥奀雲吞麵世家). 

Congee with fish slices ($32)

This was really good. The congee was slightly too thick for my liking but taste-wise it was spot on, and I didn't feel the need to add any other flavourings, even pepper. The fish was 'wan yu', thinly sliced and they gave at least an ounce or two of it. Would've liked the chopped spring onions to be fresher though, the ones given (mainly white, so towards the root of the plant) weren't so nice and gave a little bitterness. 

Mini Egg Tarts ($21)

We decided to end with a plate of mini egg tarts. The tart shell was pastry-based, rather than my favourite cookie base, but was not bad. It retained some crispiness around the sides of the tart. The filling was nicely sweet and smooth, my favourite part of the egg tart! Nonetheless, I still think for this kind of flaky pastry based egg tarts, Pak Kee's on Centre St is the best (and they sell for $2.5/standard sized!). 

This place was quite full, so reservations are a must for lunch hours. I did enjoy my simple meal here, and would gladly do it again, but may visit Tai Cheong instead for my favourite cookie based egg tarts!

Food: ♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$

Yung Kee

32-40 Wellington Street, 

Central, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2522 1624